Can rapprochement be expected in relations between Skopje and Sofia?

“Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov, who took office in December, inherited a very big problem in foreign policy. “On his first visit to Skopje, the reformist politician will carry with him in his baggage Bulgaria’s veto on the start of this country’s negotiations for EU membership,” wrote Clemens Verenkotte, ARD correspondent from that country.

Kiril Petkov’s visit to Northern Macedonia has attracted the attention of many international media. German news channel NTV notes that no major progress is expected in relations between the two neighboring countries, but there may be an improvement in the atmosphere between them.

While the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) newspaper, in an extensive analysis of the Balkan expert, Michael Martens, writes in detail about the current situation and the motives of the political forces that hold dual positions; on the one hand they defend the interests of their own states, and on the other hand they demonstrate a willingness to negotiate.

Martens explains that Bulgaria is obstructing talks on Northern Macedonia’s EU membership, with a series of demands related to historical issues. Sofia insists that the Bulgarian occupation during the Second World War should not be called that and that the Bulgarian roots of the Macedonian language and the rights of the Bulgarian minority in Northern Macedonia be recognized, Martens writes.

In his analysis, Martens writes: “Such demands of Sofia are not new. However, in the past, Europe paid little attention to these two demands, due to the even more absurd attitude of Greece towards Macedonia. Ten years ago, then-Bulgarian President Rosen Plevneliev said that Macedonia must first overcome its anti-Bulgarian stance before considering starting talks with the EU. The fact is that at that time Skopje was pursuing a really dubious historical policy. Such criticism cannot be made of today’s leadership. “As a result of Bulgaria’s veto, which is doing collateral damage to Albania as well, the traces of increased distrust in the Balkans towards EU enlargement have deepened, and this damages the image of the EU in the region.”

Reduction of EU authority in the Balkans

The author of FAZ explains that the new prime ministers of the two countries want to put a fresh start in relations between them. He stressed the readiness of the new prime ministers of Bulgaria and northern Macedonia to expand economic co-operation between the two countries.

“Petkov is considered a pragmatist, but it is still not entirely certain whether the talks in Skopje will really create the right ground for strengthening relations, because the head of the Bulgarian government has to take into account many factors. His coalition government also includes the BSP party, which has a traditional nationalist stance on northern Macedonia. The same goes for President Rumen Radev, a former fighter pilot trained under the Warsaw Pact. Radev is a military man, raised entirely in the spirit of Bulgarian socialist historiography. “His nationalist statements about northern Macedonia show that he has not yet freed himself from this legacy.”

The conditions set before Skopje by Bulgarian President Radev are also discussed in the analysis of Clemens Verenkotte. At the end of his article, the author notes that “Skopje will not negotiate the identity of the Macedonian nation and the independence of the Macedonian language, because these are the foundations of the state itself.”

An analysis by the Austrian newspaper “Die Presse” also highlights the positions of the new Macedonian government on this topic. The new prime minister has to overcome a whole mountain of problems. Prime Minister Kovacevski, considered a pragmatist, has already announced that one of his most important goals will be to end disputes with the neighboring country over Macedonian identity and history. But no quick fix can be expected – despite the change of governments in the two capitals.

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